


where the poets die

by antarcticas



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Character Death, Episode: s03e18-21 Sozin's Comet, F/M, I'm so sorry, Lightning - Freeform, Sozin's Comet, we're all really here for the angst huh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26427442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antarcticas/pseuds/antarcticas
Summary: Zuko is too late.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 122
Collections: Zutara Angst Challenge





	where the poets die

He is too late. He’s always too late—too late to stand up against his father, too late to join the Avatar. But he would do all that again, be an exile infinite times over, to be on time this once.

Azula’s fire crackles through the air. Her hair is choppy in front of her face and her fingers are sparkling and her eyes are utterly devious because she knows what she’s doing. She knows what she’s doing. She knows.

Katara’s eyes are wide and then she is on the ground and he is too late. He jumps into the air and falls back to earth and turns around to see her gasping, see her burning and twisting with her lithe arms prone against her side. This is not Katara—Katara is movement and grace and the right side of dangerous, warm hugs and smooth endings. 

Love is the word but it’s meaningless. War is the purpose but he doesn’t want to win anymore. He doesn’t want his honor. He wants to survive. He wants her to breathe. She isn’t breathing. Funny thing, isn’t it, that she’s fixed him so many times? And he had one chance and he can’t help her.

Azula laughs cruelly and he roars, breathes out, and doesn’t even bother grounding himself as he runs up to the waterbender gasping on the ground, clothes burned and mouth open. He doesn’t know what happened, then, doesn’t know if he killed his sister or if she’s fine. He doesn’t care. He reaches her side and places an arm across her chest, places his hand under her head, cries. “Come on, come on,” and he presses his hands across her body like he can keep her upright by himself, with everything that he is. But he can’t. He never could.

“Zuko,” she mutters painfully and opens her eyes, closing them again as energy racks her bones. He presses down, tries to take it out, tries to save her, but he can’t. But he can’t. “Go.”

Maybe Azula is behind him. Maybe she’ll defeat him. He doesn’t care—what is he supposed to do with this victory? He can’t do anything with this victory. “You’re going to be okay, Katara.” She has to be.

“It’s okay,” she reaches out and places a hand across his scar like she did in Ba Sing Se, lightly. Her thumb traces his lip and then falls down but he catches it. “Thank you, Zuko.”

“Heal yourself. Can you heal yourself? Let me—”

“No, Zuko . . .” she shudders. “It’s okay. Go . . .”

“I can’t,” he whispers, small, like a child seeing his mother leave. But this time he’s here. “I need you.”

She looks at him once more like he is the _sun_ before closing her eyes and letting her body go limp. Her blood isn’t singing.

He turns around and screams, rage and water and ice in his sound. He is going to kill Azula. He is. He can still feel her fingers on his face. 


End file.
